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Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was deservedly snubbed: Editorial

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford was deservedly snubbed by Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne and Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly. Never mind, he still has the Hells Angels.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne, left, met with Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly in Toronto on Dec. 3, 2013. This is the first meeting between the city and province since Toronto City Council stripped Mayor Rob Ford of some of his powers. (Mark Blinch / THE CANADIAN PRESS)

Tues., Dec. 3, 2013

Mayor Rob Ford had better get used to being snubbed by responsible policy-makers. He has become political poison through his irrational conduct, confessed crack smoking, drunk driving and buying drugs while in office.

It’s entirely understandable that Premier Kathleen Wynne would prefer to see someone else. Deputy Mayor Norm Kelly proved a welcome substitute Tuesday, meeting with Wynne for 40 minutes and assuring her that Toronto City Hall now has “a stable, calm and reasonable government.” That’s a welcome change from Ford’s administration.

Ford’s attack-dog brother, Councillor Doug Ford, was quick to snarl that neither Wynne nor Kelly had won leadership through a general election. According to Doug, democracy is undermined when these unworthies push aside Toronto’s elected mayor.

In fact, the opposite is true. The Fords fail to grasp that legitimacy requires more than just being elected. The outrages Rob Ford has perpetrated — the “drunken stupors,” criminal associations, confessed law-breaking and obscene behaviour — render him unfit for public office regardless of how many ballots he won in 2010.

Precious few of those voters would have given him their support had they known they were electing a drunken, crack mayor with gangland friends. The real affront to democracy is that Ford insists on remaining in office.

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His brother Doug goes out of the way to spew venom at those who disagree, whether it’s Ontario’s premier, the deputy mayor or Carol Wilding, head of the Toronto Region Board of Trade. Doug Ford accused her on Monday of being out of touch, claiming that 90 per cent of her organization’s members back the Ford agenda at city hall.

The councillor is as delusional as he is offensive. And so are those who think Rob Ford is somehow empowered by loss of his authority. Gimmicks like the successful sale of Ford bobblehead dolls and the way the mayor is mobbed by “fans” at football games are evidence of notoriety, not public support.

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